Mossley 5 - 0 Warrington Town

The saying goes that good things come to those who wait, and after waiting two months for a win in all competitions, Mossley's patience was rewarded with a narrow victory over Warrington Town.

I know what you're thinking, how on earth can a five goal rout be classed as a narrow victory? Well, considering what the end result could have been had Mossley put a fraction of the other chances they created into the back of the net, the final score line makes the game seem closer than it was because 5-0 flatters the visitors. A lot.

After three successive draws in the league since the turn of the year, this was the Lilywhites first victory of 2010 and it was claimed in some style as they out fought, out thought and comprehensively outplayed a side who before the game sat two places outside a play-off spot.

Straight from the kick-off (which was delayed for nearly fifteen minutes as someone hunted around for corner flags) Mossley took the game to their opponents and such was their dominance it was something of a shock that it took until the ninth minute for the first goal to arrive; Steve Settle and Andy Russell played in Michael Fish and his bobbling, slightly mis-hit shot teed up strike partner Chris McDonagh to roll the ball over the line from very close range.

Over the remainder of the half the Lilywhites continued to create more and more chances but as they did so the more the Town goal began to lead a charmed life; none more so than when Town keeper Ritchie Mottram's attempt to dribble his way out of danger ended with McDonagh putting the ball narrowly wide from almost forty yards out. And when Settle, who'd had a shot cleared off the line as early as the 2nd minute, saw an effort ruled out for offside it looked increasingly like it was going to be one of those nights where it was to be hoped that one goal would be enough to claim the win.

The precarious nature of Mossley's lead was highlighted six minutes before the break when Tony Evans wasted a golden opportunity for the visitors by blazing a shot high over the top of Peter Collinge's crossbar when it looked far easier to score. Amazingly he wasted an even more gilt edged chance moments later when a collision between Collinge and Settle left him with the ball at his feet in front of an open goal. To the relief of the home side though he delayed his shot long enough to give Graham Kay the chance to stop the ball on the goal line.

Andy Watson completed the clearance as Evans steeled himself for another strike of the ball and it was from this long kick down field that Mossley got the second goal their performance merited. Fish won the race for the loose ball and after carrying it to the edge of the Town box he stroked it low past Mottram and into the net.

The second goal appeared to knock whatever resistance Warrington had left out of them and the only question that remained to be answered as the teams retook to the pitch after half-time was not if Mossley would win, but by how many.

Ten minutes into the second period the Lilywhites began the process of giving the score line a more emphatic look when Nick Allen and Settle combined to set up Matty Kay for his 18th goal of the season. His 19th arrived on the hour mark with a shot from inside the six yard box following a goalmouth scramble which had seen the ball ricochet pinball-like around the penalty area after Kay (the Graham version) and Fish had both had net bound efforts blocked.

The fifth and final goal of the night came once again via the boot of Fish as last season's leading scorer applied a one-touch finish to substitute Lee Blackshaw's inch perfect cross from the right.

It's actually hard to put a finger on the dynamics of this game: were we that good or were Warrington that bad? The evidence for the first statement being true is that Mossley ceratinly did play well - extremely well in fact. Gone was the tired, long ball approach that made the pre-Christmas games a chore to watch and its place was the fast, passing game which was the cornerstone of that fourteen game unbeaten run earlier in the season. Watching the hapless Town side get torn to shreds every time the Lilywhites went on the attack was a sight to behold.

And in the term 'hapless' you have the basis of the argument for Warrington being bad. Despite having a couple of chances to draw level in the closing stages of the first half, mostly it must be said through mistakes of Mossley's own making, they were dire. But yet they sit just outside the play-offs so they must be a decent side, mustn't they? Surely no team can reach such dizzy heights by just being lucky.

The actual truth as always probably lies somewhere in between; Warrington were simply unlucky enough to catch a Mossley side firing on all cylinders and as we know from the past, when they hit that kind of form they are nearly unplayable.

The result also means that the Lilywhites have taken four points from a possible six at their temporary night time residence at Hurst Cross. And in doing so they've scored eight times which, fact fans, accounts for almost a quarter of the goals they've scored in the league so far this season. May be playing home league games at the lower altitude is conducive to sticking the ball in the net a bit more often than usual.

At the very least the result and performance puts Mossley in good stead for the series of upcoming games against teams making a serious challenge for a promotion spot. And on the form they showed in this match the results of those fixtures may not quite be the foregone conclusions they initially appeared. But this is Mossley and as we've found out on so many occasions, anything could and probably will happen.